Ben G. Night Assignments


Assignment 1: Reasons for Writing


Wiesel's Reasons
I believe Elie Wiesel had many reasons to write the book “Night”. I believe some of the reasons for him to write the book are that, because of the horrors he went through he feels like he has a duty to write about the holocaust so that it will never happen again. Another reason for writing the book is that he wanted to refrain from going mad. However perhaps he wanted to go mad so he can then see how the Nazi's thought when they committed such horrific crimes. He also wanted to leave behind a legacy for after he passes away. There was the more obvious reason of as a human not being able to keep silent about the crimes he has witnessed and to tell the story of Auschwitz because he shall never forget. Not only those reasons but of course also to inform the reader about his ordeal of struggle as an adolescent.




Assignment 2: Holocaust Web Search


Night Web Search
Background Information for the Holocaust
Use the following websites for a quick overview of the following terms and people.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/


Topics to Know
Questions
Answers
Nazi Propaganda
Who is Joseph Goebbels?

List three things the Nazis did to ensure that their views were shown/heard in the most persuasive manner possible.

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/propaganda_in_nazi_germany.htm
Joseph Goebbels was a crippled propaganda
leader for the Nazi party. The Nazi's ensure
their views will be shown so that they can
always be heard through radio, rallies, and
propaganda newspapers.
Kristallnacht/ The Final Solution/
Wannsee Conference
What is Kristallnacht and what does the word mean? When did it happen?
http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/focus/kristallnacht/

Who attended and what was decided at the Wannsee Conference?

What was the Final Solution?

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005477
Kristallnacht is the night in Germany when
some extreme members of the Nazi party
destroyed Jewish owned stores, community
centers and homes. The word translates to
“The night of broken glass”.
15 top Nazi officials attended and decided
how to execute all of the Jews. The
final solution was to make a organized
execution of all European Jews.

The Victims
Besides the Jewish people, list seven other groups were also targets/victims of the Holocaust?

Briefly tell the fate of each group under Nazi rule.

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007457

CLUE: Begin reading at “Targeted Groups”
Homosexuals, disabled, Poles, Gypsies,
Soviet prisoner of war, Afro-Germans,
and Jehovahs witnesses.
The fate of all of these groups from Nazi's
was death in camps.

The Ghettos
Describe the three types of ghettos, their purpose, and locations.

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005059

What was life like in the ghettos?
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007445
Warsaw, Lodz, Lvov were three major ghettos.
Their purpose was to confine many Jews into
a small place to later easily find them and
transport them to camps. All of these are in
Poland. Life in these ghettos was awful.
There was a huge shortage of living space,
food, water, and diseases.

The Camps
There were two kinds of camps: labor camps and death/extermination camps. What is the difference between the two?
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005144

What were the conditions?

What different types of extermination were performed?

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005145
In labor camps Jews were forced to work
demanding hours with no pay to make supplies
for the German army (bullets, uniforms etc.)
In death camps Jews were killed. No work
was done by the Jews just execution of them.
There was gassing, and shooting.

The Liberation & The Nuremberg Trials
Who liberated the camps?
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005131

What did Hitler do near the end of the war?

How many defendants were charged during the Nuremberg Trials? What did they represent?
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007143

What did the International Military Tribunal decide was not a legitimate defense?
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007142
The allied soldiers liberated the camps.
At the end of the war Hitler killed himself.
24 defendants were selected. They represented
all of the Nazi soldiers. The defense that was
not legitimate was that simply that Hitler
commanded them to do it.


Assingment 3: Images of Night


Moshie the Beadle

Moshie the Beadle
Innocent, desperate
Hating, caring, despairing
Timid as a deer and loud as a tiger
A dead man
Pleading
Around the corner insanity is near